98 – The Magic Number?

Hmmhhhhh….

As you will recall when we ran our fuel efficiency tests a few months ago, our test rider Peter attained 98 miles per gallon on his California Scooter.   We thought that was pretty cool, especially since we were doing our testing on surface streets with no modifications to the bikes (the test represented typical riding conditions on a stock CSC motorcycle).   Peter’s a light guy and that helped, but 98 mpg is still pretty impressive.

Last night, I asked for an insurance quote from Geico for my California Scooter.  I’m an older guy (which would keep my rates low), but last year I had an accident on my Triumph.  The reason I started checking around was that my current insurance company (not Geico) doubled my rates from last year (they told me it was because of that accident).  My ripoff sensor works pretty well (I’d been paying these other guys close to a thousand bucks a year for over 20 years to insure three bikes with no claims, and after having one accident, they doubled my rates), so I thought I’d check around a bit.   Geico came back with a bare-bones insurance quote of $98.   I was sure that had to be wrong, so I called them…nope, they said, that was the rate.  Wow.  98 bucks a year.  I’m in.

The number 98 stuck in my mind.   98 mpg in our fuel efficiency tests.   $98 a year for insurance.   Hmmm….is 98 a special number?  Is 98 mph the speed we’ll hit in November on our hot-rodded California Scooter?

Stay tuned….and we’ll find out!